January 2, 2013

NEWPORT CITY â€“ Alex Tabor, the Newport City man accused of firing a shotgun in city limits Monday, was held at the Northern State Correctional Facility on $10,000 bail after entering not guilty pleas to reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and unlawful mischief in Orleans County Court Wednesday.
The gun was a double barreled, 12 gauge Stevens Model 311.
If Tabor makes bail, he will have to abide by numerous conditions.
District Attorney Alan Franklin asked Judge Howard VanBenthuysen to set bail at $25,000 cash surety. Franklin said Tabor "failures to appear" and has numerous misdemeanor violations.
Julianne Woolard, representing Tabor at Wednesdayâ€™s arraignment, said Tabor is not on furlough and called Franklinâ€™s $25,000 bail request excessive. She said police took the gun Tabor used. Tabor has lived in the state his entire life, has no family outside of Orleans County, doesnâ€™t know how to drive and is seeking disability, Woolard said.
The affidavit states that at 12:42 PM, police received a report from someone who said Tabor had shot a gun on Third Street and â€śstuffâ€ť went flying against her vehicle. The witness said her four children, ranging from five to twelve, were in her car.
Newport City Police Chief Seth DiSanto went to the area and saw a person running to Taborâ€™s home. DiSanto went to the residence and saw Tabor. DiSanto hollered for Tabor to stop, but Tabor ran into his residence.
Police secured a perimeter and Tabor came out of his residence, acted agitated and didnâ€™t want to comply with police orders to get on the ground. Police took Tabor into custody at 12:49 p.m.
When asked, Tabor told police his friend Devin was inside his home. Police still considered the situation volatile because someone else was in the house and police had not found the gun.
When police placed Tabor in the back of a cruiser, he said that the gun just went off and didnâ€™t mean to fire it. He told police he threw the gun in a snowbank and it was in five pieces. He offered to show police where he put the gun if they removed his cuffs so he could use the bathroom.
Tabor said he was taking the gun to sell it when it went off accidentally. Tabor said he got scared, took the gun apart, took it to his residence and hid it in the basement of his home. Tabor offered to show police where he hid the gun. Police escorted Tabor to the basement and found the gun in the oil storage room. Police secured the gun and placed it into evidence.
While at the scene, someone hollered to police. Police told the person, identified later as Devin Messier, to come to them. Messier told police he was with Tabor and didnâ€™t think firing a gun in the city was right.
Messier had been inside the house but fled out the back door when Tabor went outside to speak with police. Messier said he didnâ€™t want to get into trouble but had touched the gun after Tabor took it apart. Messier agreed to meet with police to give more details of what had happened.
Messier told police that he saw Tabor walking up Third Street. Messier said Tabor told him he was upset, pointed the gun over Messierâ€™s head and fired. Tabor told Messier to walk with him and the two went behind a home. Tabor dismantled the gun, handed Messier one of the pieces and put the rest in his jacket. They then went to Taborâ€™s home.
Tabor told police he couldnâ€™t see his child, that Taborâ€™s mother, with whom he lives, was "on his back" and he was taking the gun to sell it or use it as collateral to get some cash. Tabor said he used opiates two days prior and needed more.
The witness told police that they saw Tabor and that the gun didnâ€™t go off by accident.